Retirement is the point where a person retires or leaves formal employment or retires from active management of his or her business and goes to do other private/personal work at his or her own pace. Retirement from very active life is part of our journey of life and it should therefore be included in our master plan to achieve our mission on earth. The retirement period should be as comfortable as possible and all necessities of life including provisions for housing, transport, leisure and medical among other things. Your retirement plan should ensure that your needs during retirement period will be adequately met using finances from retiree’s sustainable sources of revenue.
In planning for retirement one has to consider the following among other issues;
Financial management culture
It is important to note that you require a bit of finances during your retirement period which you will have accumulated during your active part of life. You can only accumulate funds during your active part of life if you adopt a financial management culture of always living below your income so as to create a room for savings. You can only accumulate income for your retirement period through savings and cautiously investing your savings.
Life style
The amount of resources one has to arrange will depend on the life style you want to enjoy during retirement. This will include among other things the place you plan to retire to, the means of transport you plan to use, the medical scheme and number of workers you plan to have. The life style will help you in planning the financial requirements during retirement period.
Activities during retirement
It is important to know what you plan to do during retirement. Retirement does not mean sleeping and eating but engaging yourself in less hectic life. You continue with normal but at less hectic speed. You should plan to do some work but at your own speed to keep your body active. What activity you will be engaged should not be for your survival but to keep you busy.
There are many less hectic activities one can engage in during retirement including the following;
- Membership of various board of directors
- Inspiring public talks
- Writing books and articles
- Farm supervision
- Research
- Consultancy
The aim is to engage in those activities which you can take part at your own speed and time.
Place to retire to
You are advised to retire to a place which will enable to continue living same lifestyle as you have being enjoying during active part of life. You should not miss out in terms of friends, clubs, news and entertainment. Retirement is not sending one to isolated place for quiet living but living normal life as a senior citizen at less hectic speed. You should retire to a place from where you continue living your normal life.
Sources of revenue
You should sources of revenue which will not require so much time in supervision. The ideal sources include pension scheme, rental income from property, dividends from equity share investments and fees from seating on various board of directors.
Online business
Starting a website is a great way to share your passion with the world, while making some extra money. There is so much business being done online. You can also keep in touch with your friends online.
What can you do when your plans do not work out?
Review your plans all over again to find out what could have gone wrong with the aim of putting your plan back on course. Do not despair and give up as there is always a room to improve provided you keep moving forward.
Conclusion
Retirement is the continuation of your journey of life until the owner of theatre stage closes the curtain.
The following quotes may also ring a bell for you;
“Retirement from Job does not mean retirement from life! It is the beginning not an end!”Ravi Samuel
“Your best retirement plan for retiring happy and prosperous — don’t be a burden on others.”Ernie Zelinski
Author: John Muhaise-Bikalemesa,
Director Big Drum Advisory Services,
john.muhaise@
